1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention is in the area of computer input devices, including video game controllers, and more particularly to responsiveness of systems receiving signals from such input devices.
2. Related Art
As the market for and variety of video games has increased, so has the demand for video game controllers. Early controllers were typically trackballs in a fixed mount thus requiring the user or game player to remain fairly stationary while playing the video game. Seeking to give the game player more freedom of movement as well as a greater range of video game input control, still later controllers were handheld and later, some incorporated accelerometers to determine controller movement. Other, external detectors have also been used to detect controller movement. Such external detectors include ultrasound and optical mechanisms that attempt to track movement of a controller in a field of view. A more advanced form of controller known in the art utilizes magnetic fields. Magnetic coils in these controllers detect the presence of a magnetic field to determine position and orientation of the controller. Some of these controllers consist of two parts, a controller part and a base unit part, which communicate with each other wirelessly.
Regardless of the type of controller used, ideally there is minimal delay between the user's movement and the resulting response on the display screen. Any noticeable delay can interfere with their ability to interact with the game. Avoiding such noticeable delays helps maintain the user's illusion of being “in the game” thus ensuring a seamless gaming experience
Modern'three-dimensional (3D) applications and systems, as used in many video games, have a very deep pipeline of operations that result in the final image on the display screen. This pipeline allows the game system to draw many frames in quick succession. However, the deeper the pipeline the longer it takes for a given frame to be created and displayed. This can interfere with the user's desired seamless gaming experience.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved pipeline approach for 3D applications which reduces the time taken to process and display the results of a user's movement of a game input controller.